US crude oil production in the Gulf of Mexico (GOM) is expected to average an all-time high of 2 million barrels per day (bpd) by 2020, climbing from the 2018 record of 1.8 million bpd and this year's forecast for 1.9 million, a US federal energy agency said on Wednesday
WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 16th October, 2019) US crude oil production in the Gulf of Mexico (GOM) is expected to average an all-time high of 2 million barrels per day (bpd) by 2020, climbing from the 2018 record of 1.8 million bpd and this year's forecast for 1.9 million, a US Federal energy agency said on Wednesday."The US Energy Information Administration (EIA) expects oil production in the GOM to set new production records in 2019 and in 2020, even after accounting for shut-ins related to Hurricane Barry in July 2019 and including forecasted adjustments for hurricane-related shut-ins for the remainder of 2019 and for 2020," the EIA said in a production update posted on its website.
Based on expected production levels at new and existing fields in the EIA's latest Short-Term Energy Outlook, the GOM's annual crude oil production will rise by 100,000 bpd each for this year and next, from the 2018 record high of 1.8 million, the agency said.
"However, even with this level of growth, projected GOM crude oil production will account for a smaller share of the US total. EIA expects the GOM to account for 15% of total US crude oil production in 2019 and in 2020, compared with 23% of total US crude oil production in 2011, as onshore production growth continues to outpace offshore production growth," the EIA said.
According to weekly oil supply-demand data released by the EIA, total US crude production currently stands at a record high 12.6 million bpd.
Explaining the GOM's peculiarities, especially its vulnerability to the Atlantic storms, the EIA said crude output from the region briefly fell to 1.6 million bpd in July from 1.9 million in June because of evacuation carried out at certain production platforms in anticipation of Hurricane Barry.
That outage was, however, resolved fairly quickly, and no further disruptions from Hurricane Barry remain, the EIA said.
It said eight new oil production projects were expected to come online in 2019 and four in 2020, and these projects would additionally contribute about 44,000 bpd this year and about 190,000 next year as the ventures ramp up production.
"Because of the amount of time needed to discover and develop large offshore projects, oil production in the GOM is less sensitive to short-term oil price movements than onshore production in the Lower 48 states," the EIA said.
Unlike onshore operations, falling production rig counts at the GOM have not affected current output levels, though they could impact the discovery of future fields and the start-up of new projects, the EIA said.
